Field Narrowed To Four For Whitehall Police Chief

Whitehall Township commissioners next month will interview as potential police chiefs four candidates recommended from a previous list of 10.

Township Executive Elizabeth "Betty" Buchmiller said yesterday that the four candidates, three of whom work in the Whitehall Police Department, will be interviewed by commissioners Sept. 10.

Buchmiller has not released information about the candidates.

Earlier this month, Buchmiller selected 10 candidates for chief and had them interviewed by a three-member committee she appointed.

John Meyers, assistant Whitehall executive; Ronald Fennell, Allentown College's public affairs department chairman, and Michael Holubowsky made up the committee. The committee interviewed candidates and recommended the four last week.

Buchmiller said the plan is for the commissioners to set up half-hour interviews for the four in a closed session because she considers the interviews a personnel matter. State law allows closed sessions for personnel matters.

There may be a question as to whether a closed session is justified because the candidates have not yet been hired for the chief's position even though three are employed by the township.

Buchmiller said she will decide how to proceed after she gets the commissioners' recommendation.

"It is all hinging on what the board of commissioners comes up with," she said. "I would say the four would go to be tested, but the question still in my mind is in what priority" appointments would be made.

Buchmiller has been advised by township lawyer Jeffrey Bartges that she may give a Civil Service test to a number of candidates at once without having to take the top three scores, as would normally be the case in group testing.

In this case, all candidates would be tested at once, but only one would be appointed, and the scores of the others would remain sealed unless the first appointee failed the test.

"It would be a matter of a couple of days," she said. "I'm certainly not going to sit on it another week or so."

Buchmiller said the committee's choice of four candidates was close to choices she would have made if she had picked the top possibilities.

The township has been without a chief since the beginning of the year when Buchmiller fired then-chief Frederic Conjour because of what she said was failure to fulfill his duties.

Conjour, in July, filed a suit in federal court alleging that the firing was politically motivated.

Patrolman Michael Sefcik was interim police chief until last month when he failed a Civil Service examination that determines the qualifications of a potential chief.

Buchmiller is overseeing department operations but has put a group of senior officers in charge of day-to-day details.

In a related matter, the commissioners will have a special meeting at 7 p.m. Sept. 8 to appoint Civil Service Commission members.

Township commissioners voted 5-2 at their regular meeting this month to have the present three-member board step down. Members of the majority accused the commissioners of being politically motivated and said it was hard to work with Chairman Thomas Slonaker.

The minority of commissioners said the move was an effort to gain control of the board, which will give a Civil Service test to police chiefs and review disciplinary actions taken by the township against police officers.